Palo Alto Weekly

Toasting with buttermilk

Jordan students celebrate with Medieval Feast

More than 100 students at Jordan Middle School in Palo Alto celebrated their study of the Middle Ages with a Medieval Feast Wednesday and Thursday in the school's dance studio.

Dressed in costume, students danced to the English folk tune "Greensleeves," watched an acrobat and a juggler, toasted with their cups of apple-juice "ale" or buttermilk and listened to each other describe the medieval character he or she was pretending to be.

A host of parent volunteers prepared and served roast chicken, potatoes, rolls, fruits and tarts. Social studies teacher Karin Thorne has held the feasts in her seventh-grade classes for years, but said the annual celebration "has evolved."